Ski Vacation : Destination NL and BE

In France, about a month after Christmas break, all students and most adults all get some time off in February/March to go skiing. It sounds kind of silly, but seriously – that’s what the break is for.

I hate skiing, and I don’t really like the snow so I decided to go to Maastricht and Belgium to enjoy my week of freedom.

I went to Maastricht to visit Steph and Dorus and we had a really nice time. In the city there is this huge abandoned industrial warehouse that some earth-loving hippies have taken over and turned into a sort of commune. Every Monday night, they cook vegan/vegetarian meals for people anyone who would like to come (reservations required). When you get there, its like this really dark, huge scary building and then you walk up three flights of tiny, narrow stairs, and finally you enter an eclectically decorated room with hanging paper lanterns, rhythmic reggae music, and delicious aromas floating around in the air.

The ambiance there is really unique – made me feel like I was back in Santa Cruz. For 5 euros you get a delicious homemade, earth-friendly and HEALTY meal. On the menu for the night was:

Entrée: vegan fake meat mixture with potatoes pancake waffle-thingys

Plat: Baked Polenta with melted cheese and oven roasted veggies accompanied with deep fried mushrooms and a carrot salad.

Dessert: Vegan chocolate cake with a vanilla yogurt.

DELICIOUS. Really really good.

The next day I took the bus from Maastricht to Hasselt (Belgium) to go meet up with my cousin Janice. We had a really wonderful time hanging out together. The following day, we decided to go to the Saunas. This was a life changing experience.

So we drive about 25 minutes into the woods of Belgium where this beautiful fortress was waiting for us. We went to like a spa/beauty/wellness center. It has about 5 outdoor saunas, 4 indoor saunas, swimming pools both inside and outside, hot tubs, outdoor showers, indoor showers, lounges, beds to take naps on – awesomeness.

So basically, I spent my entire day walking around in a bath towel, getting naked, walking into a sauna with like 10 other strangers, sitting there for 15 mins, getting out, jumping in a cold pool or taking a cold shower, laying down, going back in a sauna or maybe a jacuzzi, and repeating this four hours. I thought I would be really nervous about getting naked in front of so many people, but it honestly was not that bad. I think I had seen just about every body type in one day – so that was interesting. But the overall vibe of the place was really calm and it was refreshing to be surrounded by a group of people who were taking some time out of their day to make themselves feel good.

After the sauna, Janice and I hauled butt to get home, have some dinner (delicious Durum) and then off to her massage class. SOOO GLAD I WENT. It was really great to watch her teach her students (in Dutch) and meet everyone. Fortunately, one of her students was missing so I got to get paired up with a student and she massaged me for like 30 minutes – not a bad way to end a day full of relaxation.

The following morning Janice offered to give me a massage, which was absolutely divine. It really topped off my great couple of days with her which are always so much fun.

That evening I met up with Steph and Dorus and some of Steph’s friends from Maastricht to go to a party at a club in Leuven. It was sooo good. We danced until about 5 am and then went home to crash.

I had a really great week away from Paris but I am certainly looking forward to going back. It’s really starting to feel like home there. Tomorrow I start my new job as an English teaching assistant at a high school in Bobigny (a suburb of Paris)!!! I hope it all goes well.

I want to apologize for the lack of blogs/updates. I sort of fell off the face of the earth but I am back and am hoping to make weekly updates =)

Ta-ta for now.

Traveling Around France (le Touquet, Toulouse, Troyes)

So after my travels to Portugal and Sweden, I decided I needed to stay in Paris and enjoy what my city had to offer. During my vacation-hiatus I did manage to go to some cities throughout France.

Of course, with Alex, we visited yet again, le Touquet where his cousin Etienne joined along with his friend Sylvain. We had a really great and crazy time and the weather was even nice enough to stroll on the beach.

A little bit after Christmas I went to Toulouse to visit my dear friend Cecile and see where she was living and also get to see her amazing parents. They live near the farm that her dad owns and her parents just finished building their new home. Its amazing – made of wood, and really beautiful with beautiful views of the fields.

A month after the New Year, a time of year that the French people love strolls around – LES SOLDES (the sales). It’s a huge deal here, since they only have sales twice a year – so watch out, because it’s an aggressive one-month frenzy. Not too far from Paris there is a town called Troyes, and there you can find the outlet malls with all the designers and goods you could ever desire. A friend of mine invited me to go with him to visit his cousin and check out the sales there. It was a really nice time and I managed to not buy anything =)

After traveling to these cities, not only have I realized that I miss traveling throughout Europe…but that I desperately need to travel more throughout France.

Amsterdam avec L'Equipe

Shortly after the New Year, my friends and I planned a trip to Amsterdam. I have been to Amsterdam several times, but for some of my friends it was the first time, so it was fun getting to see them explore this interesting city.

The trip was really awesome minus the fact it felt like we were in Russia…IT WAS SNOWING THE ENTIRE TIME =/ Walking on cobblestone covered in frozen snow should be a sport – it’s tiring and extremely difficult.

We all stayed in a pretty well known hostel in Amsterdam – The Flying Pig. It was so much fun, the overall ambiance was great. They had a bar, a kitchen, and played music every night. Since I had already done all the touristy stuff, I opted out on the museums, Anne Frank House and things of that nature, but made an exception for the Sex Museum. Basically I just shopped and ate food the whole weekend lol.

One of the days of the trip, my friends Stephanie and Dorus came over from Maastricht to hang out in Amsterdam with me for the day. That was pretty awesome.

After the three-day weekend filled with fun and lots of snow, we were all glad to be back to Paris and in better weather conditions.